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Monday, 14 October 2013

Sergei Magnitsky libel claim - blow to libel tourism

The high court found that a Russian ex-policeman does not have prior reputation to defend in England and Wales. Mr Justice Simon at the Royal Courts of Justice said:

"His connection with this country is exiguous and, although he can point to the continuum publication in this country, there is 'a degree of artificiality' about his seeking to protect his reputation in this country."

Dr Andrew Foxall of the Henry Jackson Society said of the decision: "Today's ruling sends out a message that British courts will no longer be used to or abused to stifle or halt freedom of speech."

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Key cases, documents and articles

In Tamiz v Google [2013] here, the High Court in London found Google was not the publisher of defamatory material posted by someone using its blog facility, the judge suggesting you could not hold the owner of a wall responsible for graffiti sprayed on it by someone else.